President Ehli, N7GE called this meeting to order at 7:00
P.M.. Fourteen were present at the meeting. Treasurer’s report showed
that our account had a May 1 balance of $4132. Income of $617 and
expenses were $67.68. The treasurer’s report was motioned and
accepted.The minutes from the April
meeting were also motioned and accepted.

Old Business

The Grizzly Triatholon was successful with good participation.For next year’s event, more help will be
needed at the finish line.Also, if we
want shirts for next year’s event, we need to arrange to get them well ahead of
the event.For the Y Run, HARC will
need to provide numbers of participants and shirt sizes well beforehand.

TOSRV could use some more HARC volunteers.Around 10 are needed, but 20 volunteers
would be far better.Gas expenses will
be reimbursed but you must keep your receipts.Hams will meet at Bonner School at 7 a.m. May 19.Contact Bob Black if you wish to
participate.There will be a portable
repeater on the divide and the 146.80 MHz machine at Blanchard.Potential biker attendance is about 125 so
far.

New Business

Missoula Marathon representative Joe Boyer is requesting
communications support from HARC for the inaugural event July 15.The run will be from Frenchtown to Missoula
(Orange St.) with 17 aid stations plus start/finish lines.We would need around 20 radio operators
ideally.Around 1700 runnners are
expected.EMTs will be available and
the event would be done by noon.HARC
participation was motioned and passed.Radio coverage along the route will have to be checked out.More info available on www.missoulamarathon.org website.

The Boy Scout Jamboree is June 14-17 at Smith Ranch near
Helena.Frank W7PAQ is the contact and
he would like someone to bring the HARC tower trailer back from Helena to
Missoula on Saturday night of the jamboree.Frank was not present to provide further updates or info, but the June
HARC meeting will occur before the jamboree.

The National Weather Service will hold a 200th
Anniversary Open House on Friday May 18 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m..There will be a tour of the facilities and
operating stations.

The River Cleanup will be July 28.Russ is the contact (244-0617) and would like some more ham
volunteers.The event will kick off at
Pfister’s place on Rainbow Bend.

Osprey Night is Aug 4.For a $16 entry fee, we get a box seat, hat, program, score card,
post-game movie and popcorn.A pre-game
BBQ dinner is available for $7 more.We
need to commit by June 1.Contact Frank
if interested.549-6312.

Field Day is coming up and we need names of those who will
be attending.

Paul N7PAI requested that a Hellgate Static page be devoted to upcoming events.

Wednesday night VHF net control operators:

May 23Jerry N7GE,
Dennis W7DHB backup

May 30thBill
W4YMA, Eric NZ7S

Jerry will make phone calls to arrange the remaining dates

Meeting was adjourned at 7:55 PM. The June meeting
will be held in the Broadway Room at St. Pats.Bill, W4YMA gave a presentation on point-to-point LF/HF/UHF commercial
radio communications and his experience at a marine airstation in Hawaii in the
early 1960’s.

I will again operate a base
station for the Blackfoot River Clean up. We have need for several Hams with
VHF capability to assist in this effort. If anyone is interested they can contact
me at 406-244-0167, or email russwestberg@peoplepc.com.

This cleanup will be held on
July 28th meeting at Bob Pfisters house at 3898 Rainbow Bend, between Mile
Marker 8 and 9 on Hwy 200. Please be there by 8:30 AM. A Free Barbeque will
follow after the cleanup.

“I just heard voices on the 2 meter
radio downstairs (I'd forgot to shut it off). I ran down and it was the
International Space Station. At the QRZ, I called and got Charles, NA1SS
aboard the station at 04:38 UTZ). He'd just arrived there w/ two
Russian Cosmonauts on Monday.

This morning I
received this link for the audio. Wow, somebody is always
listening/recording”.

“Hello Vick,

I heard on the audio file you spoke with space tourist
Charles.Congrats!!!!Audio file is on my website: http://pd0rkc.ontwikkel.nl73's Cor
PD0RKC”

As I have been trying to find time to finish this month’s Hellgate Static, I have been busily trying
to put together secretary’s notes (thanks KK7UV), ARRL e-mails, and e-mails
from club members.It was today I
realized the amateur community is again to celebrate one of the longest standing
annual traditions I have been a part of.One of these traditions, the Forester’s Ball, started in the early
1900’s, the other, Field Day, started in 1933.The Forester’s Ball celebrates my career, Field Day uses my hobby to
prepare for emergencies yet to come.Both
have made me stay up far to late in the evening, made me cross-eyed in the
morning, and have also created stories to tell interested people until the day
that I die.

As was written in the June 2005 QST
in the article Old Radio subtitled
“Field Day”, “The following year in the 1933 June QST, Communications Manager F.E. Handy said “Elsewhere in this issue is announced the plan for a Field Day test of
portable equipment….” He continued, “The
idea of a local, national, and international outing ought to be popular.If a sufficient volume of results of
portable station work is reported, perhaps we can make it an annual affair.”As we all know, it was an incredible
success.Reports for the 2006 Field Day
declared that 2,169 groups hit the woods.That is 32,506 people!

The ARRL Handbook (I used the 1999 issue) uses the definition of Field
Day- A popular amateur
activity during which hams set up radio stations outdoors and away from
electrical service to simulate emergency conditions.A few pages following, it further describes
Field Day as “Every year on the fourth full weekend in June, thousands of hams
take to the hills, forests, campsites and parking lots to participate in Field
Day.The object of Field Day is not
only to make contacts, but make contacts under conditions that simulate the
aftermath of a disaster.Most stations
set up outdoors and use emergency power sources.Many clubs and individuals have built elaborate Field Day
equipment, and that is all to the best- if a real disaster were to strike,
those stations could be set up quickly, wherever needed, and need not depend on
potentially unreliable commercial power!”As was written in the May 1986 QST
in the article Getting into Field Day
Form, “Equipment preparation for emergency or for Field Day is exactly the
same.Test your rigs, antennas and
power sources, and make sure they will work when they are needed.Knowledge gained during Field Day about
equipment and what to do when it fails can be applied.If you have to depend on equipment, you
better have a backup.The operating
skills needed for successful emergency communication are the same ones
possessed by the successful Field Day operators: the ability to operate with
brevity and accuracy while subjected to fatigue, physical discomfort, and QRM
and QRN.”What a great way to describe
the tower trailer, the verticals, the wire antennas, the radios, the training,
etc. that the club has amassed.Truly,
the Hellgate Amateur Radio Club has taken this need to heart.

Within the “It Seems to Us…”
article in the 1986 June QST, David
Sumner, K1ZZ wrote: “But there is one event that’s guaranteed to make use of everyone’s
abilities.It’s been a fixture on the
Amateur radio calendar since 1933…It’s
Field Day, and if you’ve never been apart of one you can’t begin to imagine
what you have missed.”

Truly, Field Day is a preparation, training, and a wonderful experience
rolled into a big bundle, much like the 80 meter dipole that was packed away
last year.The 1980 ARRL Operating
Manual says it best “Even though its intent is emergency preparedness, it is
probably the high point of each club’s year for fun, camaraderie, and organized
confusion.”

For you
distance runners among us,,,not, but another fine public service radio
event. We need 20+ HARC members to help support this event. Please
contact Jerry Ehli, N7GE if you can assist. Here's the race website for
lots of information, http://www.runwildmissoula.org/mm/sponsors.html.

Have
you ever thought that you needed to chat with someone in the club but your
handheld is dead.What if it is the
middle of the month and the club meeting is just too far away.Well, the club has thought about that and
you have an opportunity!The Saturday
breakfast and Coffee or Tuesday might work for you.

The
Saturday breakfast is held at the Lucky Strike Casino.The standard breakfast fare is
available.It is popular because of the
inexpensive breakfast deals.As Vick
says on the webpage, “Most hams (not bacon) arrive near 7:30 AM.They are usually coffee filled and gone by
9:00 AM”.

Coffee
meetings are held Tuesdays (and some Thursdays) at Arby’s near the entrance to
the Southgate Mall at 2:00 PM. If you are curious if they are meeting, call on
the 147.04 MHz repeater.Of course, if
your handheld is broken, this might be a problem.I would suggest that you not use smoke signals this spring /
summer however.

The Hellgate Amateur radio Club will be giving
amateur radio tests at the St. Patrick Hospital on 500 West Broadway.They will be in the meeting room which is
east of the cafeteria and is accessed by the hallway.The test date this month is June
11 (Same as the meeting) however the time will be 5:30 PM.

We hope the Hellgate Static was interesting for you
this month.Let us know if this newsletteris to your acceptance.We are STILL
in need of articles that are of interest to YOU, AND are supplied by YOU.We always want your input.If you have something (even a simple
one-liner) please write to me at our address or e-mail me (Craig, KE7NO) at twincreek@blackfoot.net.We look forward to seeing you at the next
meeting.If not, still help us with
some of the activities.

Sorry things are shorter than usual this month.Things are getting busier and busier already
for this brand new summer.Remember June
has the Boy Scout Jamboree and of course Field Day! Come out and help the club at their location, visit another club,
or “go off on your own”.It’s too much
fun to stay at home.